The Urban Culinary Foundation

CONTACT:

100 Magazine Street
Boston, MA 02119
617-423-2720
www.kidscancook.org

Rebecca Masse, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

South Boston residents Dan Mathieu and Donna Montgomery founded Kids Can Cook in 1998 as the first program of the Urban Culinary Foundation, a privately funded organization created to promote cooking classes in urban areas. Concerned about the dwindling availability of school-based nutrition education in an age of junky fast-food and childhood obesity, Dan and Donna established this tuition-free after-school program for low-income students to provide an introduction to the world of culinary arts and teach important life skills through the art and science of cooking. Kids Can Cook seeks to engage inner city youth in challenging and fun after-school experiences that empower them to make healthy, informed food choices, and to build self-esteem and community through teamwork, mentoring and leadership development. What began as one after-school class serving eight students at the Paraclete Center in South Boston now includes eight classes at locations throughout the city during the school year, two summer programs, and two pilot projects focused on nutrition and leadership development, respectively. The program now offers beginning, intermediate, and advanced classes to middle school students ranging from 10-14 years of age. In the 2005-2006 school year KCC will enroll nearly 100 students each semester. Please support this innovative, responsive community effort.

(2006: CULTURE: Education: Informal: General)